Second Half Surge Lifts Concord Over D-E, 61-54 - Beckley, Bluefield & Lewisburg News, Weather, Sports

Second Half Surge Lifts Concord Over D-E, 61-54

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ELKINS -

Sophomore guard Mike Boyd and senior guard Damien Tunstalle combined to score 25 points in the second half to lead the Concord University men's basketball team past Davis & Elkins, 61-54, on the road Monday night in West Virginia Intercollegiate Athletic Conference play.

The victory elevated Concord's WVIAC record over the .500 mark to 5-4 on the season and improved its overall record to 9-4. Davis & Elkins fell to 3-9 overall and 2-7 in league play with the loss.

Boyd continued his streak of impressive scoring performances Monday night with a game-high 17 points. Boyd, who has improved his per game scoring average by nearly four full points to 11.5 ppg over the last four contests, shot 5-for-13 from the field while forcing his way to the free throw line on his way to converting 7-of-10 foul shots. He also led all players with five assists.

Tunstalle sank three three-pointers on his way to a 13-point, six-rebound night. Two of his three's came in the second half. Sophomore forward Jordan Davis had a team-best eight rebounds.

The reserve quartet of junior forward Nick Ruffin (six points), sophomore guard Alex McGlothin (five points), sophomore guard Paul Byrd (five points) and freshman guard Cam Shannon (five points) combined to score a much-needed 21 points. McGlothin also pulled in a season-best seven rebounds. In all, Concord's bench outscored Davis &Elkins' reserves 26-6.

As a team, the Mountain Lions shot 38.2 percent (21-for-55) from the field, 29.4 percent (5-for-17) from three-point range, and 53.8 percent (14-for-26) at the free-throw line. On the defensive end, CU had 10 steals, one blocks, and forced the Senators to turn the ball over 16 times and shoot just 34.6 percent from the field. D-E did win the rebounding battle 39-38.

Offense was at premium in the first half as neither team scored a basket until Tunstalle knocked down a three-pointer at the 16:23 mark of the opening period. The Mountain Lions and Senators traded the lead back-and-forth five times in the first half only to find the scored tied at 23-23 heading into halftime.

Concord's bench provided the majority of the team's scoring in the first period thanks to five points from Shannon, four points from Ruffin and Byrd, three points from senior guard Eric Bailey and two points from McGlothin.

The Mountain Lions showed a vast improvement in shooting in the second half, hitting 48 percent of their field goals compared to just 30 percent in the first half. Despite the improved shooting touch, Concord only led by three points, 50-47, with three minutes to play.

However, an 11-7 CU run to close out the game combined with Boyd's and Tunstalle's timely second half scoring was enough to put Davis & Elkins away 61-54. Seven of Boyd's 15 second-half points came from the foul line in the final 3:49 of play.

The Senators were led by Igor Premasunca's double-double of 12 points and 13 rebounds.

Concord is now set to return home for two games starting with a rematch against Alderson-Broaddus 7:30 p.m. Thursday at the Carter Center. CU lost at A-B, 83-66, earlier in the season.